Le Mirage Sossusvlei

The stay

A desert fortress, twenty-one kilometres from the gate

Le Mirage looks like nothing else in the Namib: stone walls, arches and turrets rising out of the plain like an old desert fort. Inside the walls is a green courtyard with a pool, which after a day on the dunes feels very much like its name.

There are twenty-seven rooms in two types, all air-conditioned, with bathrobes and a tea and coffee station. Camelthorn Rooms sit near the courtyard, a few steps from the main lodge; Oasis Rooms have private balconies looking out over the desert.

The Mystique Spa offers traditional and Thai massage, hot stones and body wraps, and the kitchen blends local flavours with international cooking inside the fortress walls.

What to do

Why stay at Le Mirage?

Because it is the most memorable building at Sossusvlei, and it is comfortable in a way that matters here. Every room is air-conditioned, there is a green courtyard and pool inside the walls, and a proper spa for the evening after a day on the dunes.

Beyond the dunes themselves there is more to do than at most lodges on this road. Guided quad bike excursions go out at sunrise and again at sunset, following trails across the desert to the fairy circles, and there are private tours and a desert brunch to be arranged.

The honest part is the distance. At twenty-one kilometres from the Sesriem gate, and with the gate opening at sunrise, you will not be the first car to Deadvlei. If first light on the dunes is the whole point of your trip, Sossus Dune Lodge and Dead Valley Lodge are inside the gate, and we will say so.

Before you book

• 21 km from the Sesriem gate, which opens at sunrise — allow twenty-five minutes or so
• Camelthorn Rooms take up to three; Oasis Rooms take two only
• Camelthorn from about N$5,500 a night, Oasis from about N$6,100 — ask us for your dates
• Check-in from 14:00, check-out by 10:00
• Spa treatments and quad biking are charged separately
• Park entry fees for Sossusvlei are payable at the gate

Activities

• Guided quad bike excursions at sunrise, out to the fairy circles
• Sunset quad rides across the desert
• Guided or self-drive trips to Sossusvlei and Deadvlei
• Private tours, and a desert brunch
• The Mystique Spa — traditional and Thai massage, hot stones, body wraps
• The courtyard pool

Things to see

• Sossusvlei, Deadvlei and Hidden Vlei
• Dune 45, Big Daddy and Big Momma
• Sesriem Canyon
• The fairy circles on the plains around the lodge
• Namib sunsets from the fortress walls

Facilities

• Restaurant serving local and international cooking
• Bar
• Courtyard swimming pool
• Mystique Spa
• Air-conditioning in every room

Getting there

• 21 km from the Sesriem gate into the Namib-Naukluft Park
• Gravel roads — allow more time than the distance suggests
• O&L’s sister lodge in Etosha is Mokuti, forty metres from the Von Lindequist Gate